3RD TIME IS NOT THE CHARM - 2ND AVP CHICAGO
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The long-haul international flights have turned our non-stop domestic flights into a negligible travel day in comparison. We are very happy to stay in the country to compete, not only for our swollen legs after long trips but we get to have our family and friends for the weekend too!
We are both huge fans of Chicago. I don’t know what it is about the city in the summer but it is so special. We happily agreed to get on another flight and come to Chicago a bit earlier than normal. Kristen had already begun sending me restaurants, coffee shops, and breakfast must haves along with her study of the menu to deicide which two meals we will split. *If you haven’t been at a restaurant with us, we nearly always pick two different meals and split so we can try more dishes!* We changed our flight to come in on Wednesday night to do some media with the AVP to promote the event and spread the love of beach volleyball with the community - which also means more time exploring the cuisine of Chicago :)
On Wednesday morning, our squad went out to Mangos for one last practice so we could get to the airport in New Orleans in time. On the way into the city multiple cars were swerving towards us and the hood of my car wasn’t fully closed from my oil change earlier in the week. It wouldn’t be a volleyball trip without a rough start. We hit the airport in some attire that would leave people questioning if it’s really us. Somehow people did recognize us in our disguise and we were congratulated on the Olympics. We took a few pictures, which constantly leaves us pinching ourselves, and then hopped on the plane. Nuss was in a dress while I was in jeans for the dinner we were invited to shortly after our arrival in Chicago and we were off for our first delicious Italian meal in the Windy City.
On Thursday, we had our itinerary from 8:45 AM- 4 PM full of media, interviews, and PR tasks to get done before our competition starts on Friday. As soon as we received the schedule, Kristen needed the locations of all the events… why? To plan our eating of course! This is one of the biggest perks of traveling with her because she knows exactly what I will like and always crushes the restaurant picks!
We started with an Uber eats order and a coffee run before we went to a new station. The Uber eats order didn’t deliver any silverware so there we were in the hotel room eating with our fingers and trying not to mess up our makeup. We had a live interview to chat about the AVP Chicago and peppered with the hosts for a bit. Then right after our segment there was a chef who came in with a chocolate cake and beer pairing menu. *A 12 layer Michelin rated chocolate cake!* Yes, we did walk away from the cake and then we got to the last door to exit the building and came back inside to retract our “no, we don’t need any cake” and switched to “can we please try a slice of that amazing cake?”.
We LOVED all the signs!
This delicious cake inspired Kristen to order us some of the Michelin star breakfast sandwiches which were at the top of her list to try! We were very lucky that she ordered ahead because the line of people was out the door and down the sidewalk! We walked in and we were recognized and took some pictures with some huge volleyball fans. One even said that we inspired him to get into the game of beach volleyball. *WOW* After our 5th picture, one of the employees was a huge fan as well and let us add some pastries to our order.
Full transparency, I thought the Michelin star breakfast sandwich was different but nothing I needed to eat again, Nuss on the other hand loved it! After lots of food chronicle pictures and videos we were off for our 1 hour media block for the announcement of the AVP League starting in September! We had two more interviews and then my mom arrived in Chicago and we met up for dinner in the area. After dinner my mom and I met up with some other family members for lots of belly laughs and more time to catch up. Kristen went back to the hotel to get some rest because 2024 AVP Chicago started tomorrow AM!
📸: Bryan Malloch
On Friday morning, we went down to the beach for some breakfast and the beach was already packed with volleyball lovers! We went for our daily stroll to get some coffee and then we hit the court to play yet another fellow LSU tiger, Kahlee York. After a quick shower and chat with family we were back on the beach for our 3 pm game. It was a grueling 3 set match against the blazing hot team of Abby VanWinkle & Savvy Simo, so much so that I left the court and took pictures and signed balls on the ground. We went back to the hotel for a shower, some treatment from my mom, and then we both went with our parents to get some grub. My family was the loudest group in the restaurant and laughed for hours while the Nuss crew had some fun at the bar and Kristen then had a pizza dinner and a show :)
Due to our 3 set win on Friday, we had some time on Saturday morning to hit the “best breakfast in Chicago” at Kanela. I was STARVING and was ready to leave the hotel by 8 am. Kristen and I walked through the streets raving about the charming city of Chicago. We were up against Cannon and Kraft at 3 pm for a spot in the semifinals on Sunday morning. After the W we earned some extra family time. Kristen and her crew had a reservation and a plan. Meanwhile my family couldn’t quite decide so after a wonderful mass at the gorgeous cathedral, we all ordered whatever we were craving and ate it together on the ground like a giant picnic. Then, Dr. Schwartz was back at it again to get us treated and ready for an early morning on Championship Sunday.
We were chosen for the 8:30 AM Sunday morning slot to kick off the semifinal games against Cheng/Hughes. We like to make it very entertaining & long & pushed it to 3 sets. We earned a spot into the finals match at 2 pm. Following the semifinal we went out the back of the stadium to get to the hotel and pack up everything before we had to check out. Luckily, we had some family members staying an extra night in Chicago to store our belongings and allow us to shower post match. We were up against Brandie/Mel, after 3 sets we fell short and we were out of the stands before they even gave their speech on stadium court. We sped walked back to shower and make it to our 6 pm flight. We arrived at the airport at 5 pm - just 3 hours after our finals match began. Our bodies were aching and we were craving some burgers and just like that we finished the last heritage event of the season. Is it just me or is the year flying by? Huge thank you to all the support - we still can’t get over the TKN chants, the love, the messages, the support, the TKN apparel in the stands, and the excitement everyone shows for the game of beach volleyball.
By: Taryn Kloth
